What If The Storm Ends?
by Earth Star
Summary: After the fight with Zarkon, Keith finds himself stranded alone on a strange forest planet. All hope seems lost when he gets bitten by venomous creature, but he finds aid from someone he's not sure he can trust.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: So, a bit of an explanation here. I've been seeing people explore the Keith is part Galra and Thace is his dad theory, and while that is currently one of my own theories I was reluctant to write anything since Thace himself has only spoke like five lines so far. We don't really know a lot about this character or personality and thus wasn't sure if I could write that currently until I got more information from whenever season 2 came out.

However, then after being inspired by other fics I've seen explore Thace and Keith meeting, the plot bunnies attacked and I couldn't resist doing my own take on it.

In other words, when season 2 comes out, Thace could very well be out of character in this fic and this whole fic/series of fics I may write can be considered an AU. Until that happens, I hope you all enjoy this.

Chapter 1

They were helpless.

That is what kept running through Keith's head over and over again as his lion spun around in the wormhole. He could barely get it to respond after the damage she took from Zarkon.

Worst yet was everyone's screaming in the headset.

"Oh, God! We're going to die!" Hunk screamed.

"We're not going to die!" Lance cried back.

"I can't get Green under control!" Pidge cried.

Keith snarled as every alarm in his cockpit was beeping madly. Red was spinning so much that his stomach was demanding it wanted to toss up his lunch soon. "Can we do anything?!" he cried.

"The wormhole has been tampered!" Coran voice yelled. "I doubt we're going to all end up in the same place."

"What?!" he cried. Didn't help matters the static on the intercom was increasing and was getting harder to hear.

"Paladins!" Allura's voice cut through. "I can't control the wormhole!...I can't...can you hear me-"

"Allura!" Keith cried as he banged against his helmet. "You're getting cut off!"

Not good! Not good!

"Listen up!" Shiro's voice cut in. "Wherever you end up, stay there! We'll find you….promise...stay-"

"SHIRO!" Keith yelled, but it proved fruitless as static took over the headset.

Keith slammed his hands onto the console. "This can't be happening!"

But it was, and suddenly a blinding light engulfed his vision. More spinning happened and Red was flung away like a broken toy. Keith's stomach lurched as the light died and he saw endless space once again.

There was no sign of the castle or the lions, except for the Black Lion who was falling in the opposite direction.

"SHRIO!" Keith yelled and madly tried to get Red under control, but nothing worked. Black Lion grew farther and farther away with each second.

If that wasn't bad enough a planet came into view and Red was heading straight towards it.

"Come on, Red! Work with me here!" Keith argued and he could feel Red in his mind try to do so. However, the readings on his console were going crazy. Something was interfering with the system.

Red gave a growl in his head as they dropped in the atmosphere. Keith didn't need a translator to know she said "Hang on!"

They passed through thick storm clouds. Cracks of lightning passed his windows. They cut through the clouds like a knife. Rapidly, a forest came into view.

"Oh, no," Keith said as he braced himself. "This is going to hurt."

Red attempted to steer so her face wasn't forward. Her side crashed into trees, knocking them over and landed with a thud. Keith was flung, his ribs banging against the console. He cried out, but tried to stay focussed and slammed on the breaks.

Red slid in the ground and thankfully the friction slowed them down until they collided with a tree the size of a house. Keith moaned as he panted and tried to calm his pounding heart.

"That was not fun," he grumbled and leaned back in his chair. "Red, you okay?"

A purr was heard from the back of his mind. Red was active, but it wasn't as loud and strong as it usually was.

"Not surprising," Keith muttered as he looked over the damage report Red was sending to his visor. "We both took a beating from that fight with Zarkon and looks like that crash just made things worse."

They had both had barely made it out of that fight alive. If Shiro hadn't flown in when he did, there was a high chance Keith's pieces would have been scattered across space. He shifted to rise from his chair, but an instant jolt of pain froze him.

He grasped his side and sucked air through his teeth. He either had a massive bruise or broken ribs and it felt like it was the later. Keith knew he got it during the battle. He had been trying to to avoid one of Zarkon's attack when his body slammed against the console.

It wouldn't have hurt so bad if the restrict system hadn't gotten disabled thanks to the blows they took before that.

Keith sighed as he sat back in his chair. It had taken him awhile to get use to flying without a seatbelt thanks to the Altean system of their suits using contact points to attach to their seats so they weren't flung around during flight. However, given his current injuries, Keith made a note to tell Pidge and Hunk they should just install seat belts to avoid further risks.

Well..that is is if he could find Pidge and Hunk.

Keith frowned as he tapped his head piece. "Shiro, Allura, Pidge, Hunk, Lance, can anyone hear me?"

Nothing replied except the constant buzzing static.

Keith growled as he slammed his fists on the console. "Great, now what do I do?"

Shiro's last instructions were to stay put, but how was that any good if they were all scattered like this? Besides what if one of them was injured and needed help? What if Shiro was lying unconscious in his lion and needed his help? Or Allura got captured again? What if Hunk, Pidge or Lance didn't land anywhere? What if-

Red roared in his mind and forced Keith to stop his train of panic.

"Yeah, okay, thinking about that won't help," Keith replied. He breathe in deeply and slowly exhaled as his mind cleared.

Got to keep clam. Got to stay focus. He eased out of his chair gingerly and pressed the button to lift the hatch.

"Right, first thing to do," Keith muttered as he climbed out, while still grasping his ribs, "find out how much damage you're in, Red."

He stepped back to look Red over and winced. She did not look good. Bent armour, broken canon and that was only accounting for the exterior. Keith was certain the interior wire was even worse.

Keith removed his helmet as he ran a hand through his hair. "I got to get you flying, even if it wasn't for searching for the others, we don't know when the Galra will find us."

They were probably searching for all the Paladins right now. Better not to linger in one place too long.

"No choice then," Keith told Red. "Going to try my best to fix you." He rubbed his neck. "Even though I'm not quite certain how to do that."

Red gave an encouraging purr, and Keith decided to try to stay positive and not think about what state the others were in. It was all he could do.

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Keith spent the next several hours trying to do repairs, which truthfully wasn't much. He was an expert pilot, but when it came to repairs he was a total novice. He had done his own basic repairs on his hover bike on Earth, but Red was far from basic and she was no hover bike. The constant throbbing pain wasn't helping either.

Keith had done what he could with the first aid kit that Coran had placed under Keith's seat. He was reluctant to remove his paladin armour and be more open to attack, but he had no choice. It was more important to treat his injury. Plus, he had to admit, it hurt a bit less not to have his armour pressing into it..

Keith stripped himself to his black shirt and pants. He then took the bandages and wrapped them around his ribs and tried to ease his pain with an ice pack, or at least the Atlean version of it.

Coran had called it a mora...morphic...arrg it was an icepack. Plain and simple. Point was, it was cold and helped a bit with the discomfort, but that was it. Sadly, the only other thing Keith could do was attempt to work through the pain and ignore it.

By the time the sun was setting, Keith growled in frustration and tossed his tool to the ground. He wasn't going to get anywhere at this rate.

His growling stomach then reminded him he hadn't eaten anything since lunch and it was going to get dark soon.

"I got the rations," Keith said as he rummaged through the first aid kit and pulled them out. "Which are...packaged goo...yay."

He was just getting use to Hunk's cooking and not having the taste of goo taste in his mouth. He had to admit, without Hunk's cooking he probably would have forgotten what normal food actually tastes like.

"Hope he's okay," Keit muttered to himself. Hunk was a good guy. Keith didn't think he get use to his sudden bear hugs, but he was a good guy.

He leaned back against Red as he continued to nibble on his goo ration and watch the sky turn to night. Keith decided for tonight he would sleep in the cockpit. The heat system was still active so he wouldn't freeze, and it was the best protection he had from wild animals.

Quietly, Keith glanced up to the stars that peeked through the dark clouds as he let his mind drift.

He did genuinely like Hunk, so what did he think of the others?

Shiro was the person he was the closest to in the group. His family had taken Keith in when he was twelve and Shiro practically adopted him as his little brother ever since. Then he thought he lost him only to get him back a year later, and he had vowed to NEVER let someone take him away again.

Pidge was determined, smart and dependable. Keith heldd a lot of respect for her.

Coran was odd. He wasn't sure how to always read the guy. Although, he seemed to be able to keep a cool head when needed.

Allura, well, he didn't quite know her that well. She was rather too trusting of strangers at times, but at least her heart was always in the right place.

Lance..well...he was learning to work with him. Had to admit, the guy was a lot smarter than he gave him credit for. They were starting to become friends. At least, he thought they were. Lance didn't seem to make up his mind on that sometimes.

"Man, I wish they were here," Keith said as he rubbed his neck. "Never thought those words would leave my mouth."

Keith had gotten use to being on his own for a long time. His mother had died when he was barely old enough to remember, and with no mention of his father or any other family he became an orphan.

With only himself to rely on for so long, and the constant changing of foster homes, it just became a survival skill to not form any attachments to anyone until Shiro's family entered his life. Even then though, when he wasn't with Shiro or his parents, Keith kept to himself.

Yet, after all that effort, here he was alone on a strange planet and he was feeling rather lonely.

"I...never had this many people to miss at once before," he muttered to Red. "It's weird."

Red purred to give him comfort, and it did for a moment, until a drop of water struck his head.

"Huh?" Keith said as he glanced up. More raindrops fell from the sky and splattered his face until it rapidly turned into a full shower.

"Oh, just great," Keith cried as he jumped to his feet and ducked under one of Red's legs for cover. "So, I'm lost, eating goo and wet. Just can't get any better than this?"

Red suddenly growled in his head, which made Keith froze. Images were passed into his mind.

Animal. Wild. Danger.

Keith went still as he seized his bayard and activated his sword. Silently, he scanned the area for any signs of a predator. However, the thick foliage made it hard to do so. There were sounds of the local wildlife in every direction Keith looked.

"What's out there, Girl?" Keith whispered. "Don't know if I would prefer it be a Galra solider or not-"

There was movement from behind. Keith dodge, ignoring the ache in his body as he rolled and scrambled to his feet.

A purple lizard the size of a cougar flicked his tongue at him. It had a long tail and a narrow jaw with teeth that seemed to be dripping with a black liquid. The lizard growled as it's narrowed eyes locked directly onto Keith.

"Sorry, Bud," Keith said as he held his sword tight, "but I'm not going to be your dinner."

The lizard lunged, faster than Keith expected.

He tried to turn and run, but in the dark tripped on a root. Keith only had enough time to roll on his back and see the lizard chomp its' jaws onto his arm.

Keith cried out as the teeth cut into his skin. He took his sword and stabbed it into the lizard's side, causing it to let go in shock of Keith and stumbled.

Keith hastily got to his feet and covered his nose as a putrid smell struck him. To his horror, he realized it was coming from where the creature bit his arm.

Venom?! Arrg, great! Just what I needed! He grimly thought.

He glanced to the lizard who seemed more concerned with the bleeding wound in it's side. It looked more hesitant now.

Keith's legs were beginning to wobble, but he kept his stance and held out the sword. "Come on, Leatherhead," he said, "try to take another bite out of me! Give me more reasons to stab you!"

The lizard narrowed its' eyes and flickered his tongue like it was debating. Then, much to Keith's relief, the lizard moved to the left and headed straight back into the bushes where it had come from.

Once it was safe, Keith dropped to his knees, and leaned against his sword.

"Not...my...night," he muttered. The wound on his arm was stinging now, and worst of all he was beginning to feel dizzy.

Got to look in the first aid kit, Keith thought as he used his sword as a cane and staggered to Red. Maybe there's something in...there..I could...I'm so tired.

Keith barely got underneath Red's leg before he collapsed to the ground face first. He moaned and flipped to his side.

It hurt, everything hurt and he was so tired. Logically, he should move, but it was hard to even keep his eyes open.

I just wish the pain would stop, Keith thought.

He didn't know how long he lay there. Keith would blink and then find himself blacking out, only to briefly awake with Red roaring demanding him to get up.

"Can't..sorry, Red," Keith muttered. "Wish I could."

Off in the distance, Keith could have sworn he heard footsteps approach, except that couldn't be right. He was alone. There was no one to help him.

His vision began to blur and a large figure appear above him.

"Who..what?" Keith whispered. His voice was so weak.

A hand brushed against his arm, but he didn't know whose.

"Venom, that explains the wounded purple eater," a male voice spoke that Keith didn't recognize.

Purple eater? Isn't that the name of an old song? I got to be hallucinating.

Then there was clicking of metal. "I have to get the venom out before it spreads any further." He saw something hover above him and felt a hand on his shoulder. "Brace yourself, this will hurt."

A sharp edge cut into his wound. Keith screamed and attempted to twist around to break away, but the hand kept him in place. It was agony. Yet, his misery only lasted a few seconds and then it lessened. The stinging was somewhat bearable now as he felt the weapon pulled out of his arm.

"That got out most of it," the voice said, "but you're not out of danger yet, Boy. I can't treat you here though."

Keith didn't know what to say. His brain couldn't think as he felt a strong pair of arms lift him in the air. He wasn't sure what to do, until Red purred in his mind to calm him.

Safe, he was safe.

Keith blinked as he glanced up and assumed he was still hallucinating before he blacked out again. It was the only logical explanation. Why in the world would he be saved by a Galra soldier?


	2. Chapter 2

Keith dreamed, or at least assumed he was dreaming, but it felt so weird. Hands forced him to sit up and his blinked groggily as his head was tilted upward.

"Drink," a voice ordered as he felt a cup brought to his lips.

Without a second thought, Keith swallowed. It was bitter, but he was grateful for the warm broth that wet his throat. He was then set back down and returned to darkness as the same voice told him to sleep.

The same routine repeated several times, although by the fourth time, Keith's mind began to argue that it wasn't a dream. Yet, he refused to accept it because when he weakly opened his eyes he saw a Galra soldier in front of him. Why would their enemy be helping him?

It didn't make any more sense than his other fever dreams he had.

They were all rapid and unconnected images. Shiro yelling at all of them to run. Voltron being captured by Zarkon. Lance having a dance off with Sendak. Pidge and Allura having a baking contest. Coran shaving his mustache and declaring he was king of the mushrooms. Hunk defeated a monster by cooking it a delicious meal.

Fever dreams were strange.

But the last dream was of his mother, years ago when he was little. She was straightening his hair as she lay in her hospital bed. She was trying to tell him something, but her voice was in a whisper.

"Keith...your father…," she continued, but he could barely hear her.

"Mom," Keith moaned and reached out to her. "What are you trying to tell me? Mom!"

Keith jolted awake, and saw his outstretched hand grasped nothing except air. His arm dropped to the side, as his brain slowly process where he was.

 _I'm on a bed, with a blanket and pillow and inside somewhere. A ship? A base? How did I get here?_

Keith eased himself to sat up and hissed slightly as the soreness in his body hit him. He froze as he realized while he still wore his pants, his shirt had been removed. Fresh bandages had been wrapped around both his ribs and on his arm where the lizard bit him.

"Okay," Keith said slowly as he rubbed his injured arm. "So someone mended me, but who?"

 _And more importantly, where's Red?_

A sudden purr entered his head. Red was alright, and safe. Keith sighed slightly and then forced himself out of bed.

"Can't get anything done here," Keith said as he ignored his body's demand to stay put. "Got to get to Red, do more repairs and get out of here." He frowned as he looked around the room and down at himself.

"Okay, correction, need to find my clothes first," he muttered. Going back out into the forest with only a pair of pants would be rather stupid.

The room itself was bare with the exception of a chair, and a small table that had bottles, jars, a black box and some leftover bandages on it. Keith fingered his own bandages and choose not to dwell on it as he decided to check under his bed.

"Maybe my stuff was stored here," Keith said as he bent and had instant regrets from his aching ribs.

"Yeah, that's going to get annoying real fast," he grumbled.

"That's what you get for leaving your bed," a voice said from behind.

Keith jumped to his feet and spun around. A Galra soldier stood in the doorway, and to his shock, it was the same person he kept seeing during his fever dreams.

 _Guess they weren't hallucinations,_ Keith thought bitterly. He took a fighting stance, ready to punch the second the Galra move. "Who are you?! And where am I? A Galra ship?!"

The Galran's eyes narrowed, but he calmly held out his hands like he was coaxing a wild animal. "My name is Thace and we are in a base that's been long forgotten, and abandoned."

"Oh, really?" Keith said, as he kept his fists up. "So, what am I your prisoner?"

"No, you are not," Thace said as he shook his head.

Keith glared. "If that's the case then I'm just going to leave-"

"I can't let you do that," Thace stated firmly.

"You just said I wasn't your prisoner!"

"You aren't, but you are injured and will only bring harm to yourself if you leave in your current condition," Thace continued. "I truly mean you no harm, Paladin."

Keith narrowed his eyes as he tried to ignore the throbbing pain in his side. It was getting worse the longer he stood there. "Yeah? And what reason should I have to believe that?"

"I will give you two," Thace said as he stepped forward. "First off, if I wanted you dead I wouldn't have bothered to bring you here and bandage you." He held out his arms. "Here is the second."

Thace lunged forward. Keith attempted to roll and dodge, but the pain intensified as he did so. Keith yelped and clutched his bandaged ribs, which gave Thace enough time to swiftly seize Keith from behind and pin him to the ground.

"You are in no condition to fight me," Thace said like he was a teacher giving a lesson as he kept Keith securely pinned. "I'm betting the wind itself could knock you over."

Keith growled as he struggled like a feral cat in a cage. "Let go of me!"

"Not until you calm down," Thace continued in a stern tone. "I put a lot of work in those stitches, and you're going to rip them if you keep this up." Thace held Keith's head and forced him to turn at look at him.

"Your choices are to either stop this foolishness or I drug you to make certain you're able to heal properly," he continued with a hard frown. "So, what will it be, Boy?"

Keith ceased his struggling to catch his breath. He would never admit it, but he was becoming out of breath and his sides were starting to throb.

Thace was right. Even if he did managed to run out of here, it wouldn't take much for him or for some other Galran to capture him.

"Fine, okay, you win," Keith spat with a snarl. "Just get off of me, you weigh a ton."

Thace studied Keith's face, and then released him. However, before he could utter a word Thace grabbed his arm and lead him to the bed.

"Sit still," Thace ordered as he pointed to the bed. "I need to change your bandages on your wound."

Keith glared, still unconvinced he could trust him, but did as he was told. He remained still and watched Thace like a hawk as his bandages were removed. He winced at the sight of both the stitches and the scabs that had formed over where the lizard had bitten him.

"I managed to get most of the venom out with my dagger," Thace explained as he dropped the old bandages on the table. "But enough of it remained to give you a high fever."

"Yeah..okay," Keith said, half listening as he stole a moment to examine this stranger. He wasn't young, if the white streaks in his hair were any indication, but he didn't seem elderly either. If Keith had to guess he was probably not far from Coran's age.

If Keith took into account how effortlessly Thace took him down, it was safe to assume he wasn an experienced warrior. Be almost impossible to win in a fight against him, at least in his current condition.

He awoke from his thoughts as Thace took hold of his arm to look it over. "It does seem to be healing," he stated as he reached for a bottle on the table. "I'll need to to put on more ointment to keep it from it getting infected."

He reached for a small jar and removed a lid. "This will sting for a more moment."

Before Keith could question it, Thace spread on the ointment and Keith had to bit his lower lip to keep silent. Thankfully, it only lasted a minute and the stinging faded.

"Where exactly am I?" Keith asked.

"Question for a question," Thace asked without removing his gaze. "Tell me your name first. I already gave you an advantage by knowing mine."

Keith glared disapprovingly. He wasn't thrilled with the idea of this guy knowing his name, but he needed answers.

"It's Keith," he said, refusing to give his last name too. This guy didn't need to know that.

"I see," Thace said as he took the bandages and some gauze to wrap the arm. "We are in an abandoned Galra base, and the only people on this planet, besides the local wildlife, is you and me."

"Okay," Keith replied _So, I'm not surrounded by Galra soldiers? I suppose that's not terrible._

Then a thought struck him. "Why was this place abandoned?"

With Keith's luck it was due to a virus outbreak or something, and if that was the case, that was going to make leaving this planet a lot more difficult.

"I'll tell you," Thace continued as he finished tightening the bandages, "if you tell me which planet you're from."

Keith was hesitant on that one. The Galra didn't seem too interested in Earth ever since they left with the Blue Lion. There was no doubt they would make their way there to conquer it eventually and Keith rather not make it a target by revealing it.

Although, on the other hand, Earth was a generic name, at least according to Coran it was. It was possible he would have no clue which planet he referred to and not know where exactly it was.

Keith had to take the risk. The more he knew about this place, the faster he could make an escape plan.

"I'm...from Earth," Keith said slowly, "I doubt you know it though."

Thace's face was unreadable and gave a small sigh. "I thought as much," he muttered.

"What?" Keith asked.

"Nevermind," Thace said as he rose, "to answer your question we're on the planet Ceinus, covered in forests and dangerous wildlife. It was once believed it would make an ideal base, until it was realized it constantly has geomagnetic storms in the upper stratosphere."

"So?" Keith said. "What's so bad about that?"

"The storms interrupt signals and thus make it impossible for signals from ships to be sent both from off and on the planet." He looked to Keith. "Makes it rather useless for a military base."

"Wait," Keith said as he held up his hand. "So, when you say all signals-"

"I mean, you are not able to connect your fellow Paladins no more than I would be able to contact a Galra ship, even if I wanted too."

Keith raised an eyebrow. _Wanted to? What does that mean? He's hiding from them?_

"For the time being," Thace continued with his arms folded, "you're staying here until your wounds have healed. You're lucky I came across you when you did. If the venom didn't kill you the purple eater would have come back to finish the job."

Keith blinked and tilted his head. "Purple eater? You mean the giant lizard?" He hoped this wasn't part of the question bargain.

"Correct," Thace said with a curt nod. "They have a tendency to attack their prey and try to come back to eat it when the venom has taken it's course."

Keith shivered a bit. _So, I was almost lizard food? Perfect._

"I stumbled upon the creature and killed it before it did the same to me," Thace replied. "But upon seeing the wound, I decided to investigate and that was when I found you."

"So, you stabbed me with your dagger?" Keith replied, bitterly. i _So, that hadn't been a dream./i_

"To remove the venom, yes, as I have already explained," Thace said as he turned to leave. "That's enough questions, I have duties to attend to if we both wish to survive while on this planet."

He glanced back to Keith. "I'll be back to check on you, till then stay in bed."

Keith said nothing as he watched Thace leave and the door shut behind him.

"Stay in bed?" Keith said in a mocking tone as he lay back. "Geez, who does he think he is? My dad?"

He rubbed his eyes. This made no sense. Why was Thace doing this? It couldn't be out of the goodness of his heart. There had to be some ulterior motive for saving him.

"He's probably hoping he can give me as a wrapped up gift to Zarkon," Keith muttered.

 _But then, why did Red insist I was safe? Unless, I did dream up that part._

Keith snarled as he rolled to his side. It didn't matter if he dreamt it or not, either way he was getting out of here to find Shiro and the others. That was all there was to it.


	3. Chapter 3

Keith hadn't realized he drifted off until he awoke to the door opening. Thace appeared carrying a bowl erupting with steam in his hands.

"I checked on the status of your Lion," he said as he entered. "She has currently created a barrier around herself, so rest assured no one can access her."

That's good at least, Keith thought. Too bad she's still too damaged for me to fly.

He sat up in the bed and pointed to the bowl in his hands. "What's that?"

"Food, you need to keep up your strength," he said as he placed the bowl on the table. "I brought you some soup to eat."

Keith raised a skeptical eyebrow. In an almost cat like manner Keith glanced in the bowl, fully expecting to see black goop or an antenna sticking out. There was none of that. All Keith saw where what he reasoned to be chunks of meat, and pieces of alien vegetables he'd certain he'd seen Hunk use.

Besides Hunk's cooking, this was the first alien dish that actually looked normal. The worst part though was that it actually smelled good.

"What is this made out of?" Keith asked as he pointed, trying to ignore the growling his stomach was giving.

"Just some local vegetation, and a Whonontun I caught."

"A whoon..nut?" Keith asked.

"It's a grass eating animal with three antlers," Thace explained as he folded his arms. "From my understanding they are similar to Earth deer."

Keith paused and frowned at him. "How do you know what Earth deer are like?" he asked. Just how much information did the Galra have about Earth?

"Personal experience," he said.

"That's not an answer."

"That's all you're getting," Thace repeated. "So, go and eat."

Keith was very, VERY tempted to do just that and he doubted Hunk would be able to resist if he was here. Using all his willpower, Keith shook his head.

"Yeah, no, I'm not trusting you didn't put anything else in this dish that I don't know about," he said.

For all Keith knew the guy had drugged the bowl. He recalled Shiro saying drugging food was a common practice Galra soldiers did to prisoners. Shiro mentioned with rather distaste that he was only spared since he was 'the Champion' and needed to be at his full game to fight.

Thace narrowed his eyes and sighed. "Very well, then, here," he said as went behind a crate and pulled out Keith's first aid kit. "I thought you might argue this so I made certain to bring back these..things," he said as he tossed Keith one of the goo ration packs.

Keith caught it and swiftly inspected it. It was a new pack, and from what he could tell it hadn't been tampered with.

"You can eat these," Thace said, "although, if I were you, I rather risk getting poison."

Keith tilted his head. "Why would you say that?"

"From my understanding, the Alteans were well known in the universe as amazing engineers...and terrible cooks," Thace replied.

Keith resisted the urge to give a chuckle. I wonder if Coran and Allura know about this. That's bad if even a Galran is saying that.

"With that said, I will still leave the soup here," Thace said as he turned to leave. "There's only a day's worth of meals there. Eventually, I'm going to have to insist you eat some proper food."

"Not likely," Keith muttered as he watched Thace leave. He opened a package to suck on the goo, and grimaced as it touched his tongue. His eyes glanced over to the bowl and his nose argued it probably tasted a lot better if the scent was a fair judgement to go by.

Keith sighed and turned his back to it trying to toss aside the thought that perhaps it was worth it to risk being poisoned.

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Keith spent the next couple of days mostly sleeping and when awake trying to either figure out what Thace wanted or how he should escape. He would have like to investigate the base, but it was difficult to move stealthily when he could barely walk three steps without wincing.

Nevermind that Thace seemed to be watching him like a hawk and at least once a day inspected Keith's arm. Sneaking away wasn't an easy option when he couldn't even run if needed.

Worst yet, as much as Keith wished it wasn't true, Thace's prediction proved right and Keith ran out of the goo packets by the second day.

Keith had hid the empty packets, hoping that as long as Thace was still believing Keith had the goo he wouldn't offer the food again. Keith's hunger was getting worse and he wasn't as certain he could refuse real food the second time around.

Despite his best efforts, Thace appeared near the end of the third day with a slice of some kind of dried meat. Keith remained where he was on the bed and pretended not to see like he was a cat ignoring his owner.

"You need to eat," Thace said as he pulled up a chair. "I know you no longer have the goo."

"I'm fine," Keith said. He probably just wants to make sure I stay healthy enough to hand over to Zarkon on a silver platter.

"You won't be any use to your other paladins if you let yourself get weak from hunger," Thace argued.

Keith flinched at the comment. There was a grain of truth in there. "I also won't be useful if I let myself get poison."

"You already did that once," Thace said as he raised an eyebrow, "or did you somehow forget the giant bite mark on your arm?"

Keith shot a glare, but Thace seemed unfazed. "I'm. Not. Eating. It," Keith said in a tense tone.

Thace sighed. "Very well, I'll play your game." He reached over and took a bit off the meat. "Tell me, Keith, if I had put something nefarious in your food would I do this to myself."

Keith watched puzzled as Thace held up the piece and then his eyes widened as Thace ate and swallowed it. He continued to watch as Thace remained still and gestured to himself.

"There, and by your paranoia I have 'poisoned' myself." He leaned forward in the chair. "I believe that should be more than enough proof for you."

Keith opened and shut his mouth. He glanced to the food. There was no reason to not eat it if Thace did, although there was a chance this was all a bluff...but….

"Arrg, fine," Keith growled and reached for the plate. He picked up the meat, still hesitant to physically put it in his mouth. The hands wouldn't move, and then he realized he still had another pair of eyes watching him.

"Are you just going to sit here and watch me eat?" Keith asked.

"Yes," Thace said flatly like it was a pointless question.

Keith gave a small pout and shook his head. Gingerly, he took a small bite. It had a bit of a bizarre taste, not terrible, but certainly not a taste he was familiar with. It was certainly more enjoyable than some of the dishes Coran made.

He had thought two bites would be enough to satisfy him, but his stomach demanded more and before he realized it, Keith had eaten all of it.

As he chewed, Keith didn't dare glance to Thace, but he didn't have to. He could feel the Galra smirking at him.

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The next few days passed by slow as molasses for Keith, and it drove him crazy. He rarely got sick and the few times he did, Keith had always loathed it. Shiro and his parents almost had to guard his door to ensure he stay in the bed from the few times he had caught a cold.

Thace had continued to check on him and bring him food. So far, Keith had not fainted from poison and actually was feeling gradually better every day. Therefore, he had to assume Thace had been telling the truth and the food were safe to eat, but he still didn't trust him.

He wasn't crazy either to let the guy change the bandages on his arm, but Thace still proved he could pin him easily if he wanted to, at least for now.

Each day, Keith attempted to climb out of bed and walk around the room until he got exhausted enough he had to sit down. The morning Keith had stayed out of bed for an hour without having to sit, he felt victory. His pain had been receding as well, and he was frankly feeling more stable on his feet.

Keith decided he had recovered enough to go and find the others. Red still needed to be repaired, but he would just have to do the best he could on his own. There was a brief thought of asking Thace for help, but Keith refused it immediately.

Even though Thace saved his life, he was still a Galra soldier. No way was Keith letting him near Red to bring to Zarkon. He searched the room for his clothing and found his shirt tucked under the bed. Keith paused, recalling that it had gotten torn from the fight with that purple eater, but to his astonishment saw that someone had mended it.

"So, he fixed my shirt too," Keith said as he slipped it on. "I really don't get this guy."

He didn't have his precious red jacket, but he knew that was still back at the castle.

There was no sign of his armor, but he had removed it and placed it in Red at the time. So, Keith had to assume it was still there. He did managed to locate his boots under the bed, so that was a win. Yet, there was still no sign of his sword.

Thace must have stashed it somewhere so I couldn't attack him with it, he thought grimly. I need to find it. Allura would kill me if I lost it.

He hastily put his boots on and then Keith peeked out of his room. No sign of Thace in the hallway and Keith would prefer to keep it that way. Be a lot simpler if he could just sneak out before Thace noticed he was gone.

Silently, he entered the hallway and tried to keep his guard up. He wished he knew how big exactly this base was, and he had no way of determining where exactly his weapon had been taken.

He found a room that Keith guessed was once where the Galra soldier stored their weapons, but it was bare except for a few knocked over crates. Next couple of rooms seemed to be used for persona quarters, but there was nothing in each until he stumbled upon one that was much cleaner and not covered in dust like the others.

The bed had a fresh blanket and it was clear had been used recently. A few bags were tucked into the far corner. Someone was staying here, and it had to be Thace.

"Maybe he stashed it in here," Keith said as he entered and went straight for the bags. "It's got to be in one of these-"

His fingers grasped a handle and hoped filled his heart. However, as he took it out, it evaporated as he saw it wasn't his bayard, but a dagger. He growled in annoyance and was about to plunk it back in the bag when he froze.

There was something hauntingly familiar about it. Keith ran his fingers over the hilt and it hit him like a ton of bricks. The symbol carved into the hilt was identical to the one on his dagger, the one he knew was safely kept in his room back in the castle.

It was precious to Keith. It was given to him by his mother, being told it was a gift from his father. She had instructed Keith to keep the symbol hidden and wrapped. He never quite understood the reason, but he didn't argue with her and kept the promise after she died.

Keith had carefully kept dagger out of sight as he was bounced from foster home to foster home. He had feared the social workers would snag it on the grounds it wasn't exactly a child friendly item. Although, there had been plenty of nights he had unwrapped it and trace his finger over the symbol to comfort himself when he was lonely.

In all his young life he had never seen anything resembling it. So why did Thace have the same symbol on his dagger?

"Keith, what are you doing?" Thace's voice boomed in the room.

Jumping, Keith stashed the dagger back in the bag before spinning around. Thace stood in the doorway with a disapproving glare that reminded him of Shiro whenever he was annoyed.

"I'm looking for my bayard," Keith said as he rose.

Thace kept his frown as he studied him and folded his arms. "And why exactly are you searching for it?"

"Because I'm leaving," Keith said as he walked up to him. "Thanks for the help and all, but it's time I go get my lion and find my friends."

Thace gave a snort. "You've just remastered of being able to be steady on your feet, you're in no condition to fight. You would be killed by a beast before you got to your lion, and even if you survived that, you're not well enough to be on your own."

"That's your opinion, not that I'm asking for it," Keith said as he walked past him.

"It's not my opinion, it's fact," Thace said as he followed after him. "You need to let yourself fully heal."

"I'm healed enough," Keith argued as he ducked into another room and started to rummage through the crates.

"If you leave now, there's a high chance you can injure yourself further or worse cause the fever to return," Thace argued in a firm tone. "And then what will you do?"

"I'll deal with it if that happens," Keith snapped.

"Quiznak, you're just as stubborn as-" Thace cut himself off and suddenly had regret on his face.

"Stubborn as what?" Keith asked as he opened the lid to a trunk.

"Nothing," Thace grumbled as he turned his head away.

Keith raised an eyebrow, but forgot the comment as he saw there was still no sign of his bayard in the trunk and slammed it shut.

"I don't even know why we're having this conversation," Keith said as he spun around. "You claim I'm not your prisoner, so I'm going to do what I want, alright?"

Thace's face hardened and his massaged his head like he was getting a headache. "You truly are just a child. It's amazing you paladins have avoided capture for this long if this is how you act."

Keith was taken aback by the remark, and for some reason it annoyed Keith more. "I'm not a child, and you can't stop me." He bumped Thace's shoulder and went back into the hallway, only to feel a tight grip on his arm.

Keith turned his head to see Thace was holding him back. "You are wrong on both accounts," he stated firmly.

"Let. Me. Go." Keith said as he tried to yank his arm free.

"If you're strong enough as you claim you should be able to free yourself with no trouble," Thace argued back.

Keith growled, but tried as he might, he could feel fatigue starting to slip in his body again. He wouldn't admit that to Thace though.

"I'll ask one more time," Thace said sternly. "Are you going to return to your room and rest?"

"Not unless you drag me there!" Keith snapped.

Thace sighed like he was dealing with an unruly child. "Very well."

In less than an eyeblink, Thace pulled Keith closer and then effortlessly lifted, and swung Keith over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Upside down, Keith blinked stunned until his brain and pride promptly reminded him what was happening.

"What the-PUT ME DOWN!" Keith yelled kicking with all his might.

"You brought this on yourself," Thace replied as they walked back down the hall. "This is for your own good."

"Let go!" Keith yelled and tried not to blush. If Lance was here he be laughing his butt off right now. Alas, Thace didn't so much as flinch as they reached Keith's room and dropped him back onto the bed.

"Now, stay and rest," Thace instructed as he briskly turned and left the room. "I will be checking on you later."

Keith sprang to his feet to race the door, but it slid shut faster and Keith heard the last sound he wanted to hear. The clicking of a lock.

Keith tried to slide the door open, but it refused to budge.

"Did you seriously lock me in here?!" he yelled as he pounded the door with his fist. "Hey!"

Thace didn't answer and all Keith could do was kick the door before letting his body lean against it and slumped to the floor. This was not what he had planned at all.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: For those interested into having songs playing while they read fics I recommend "What if the Storm Ends?" by Snow Patrol since I feel it really goes well with the mood of this chapter and the ones following this one._

 _You can find it watch?v=S0BDS0-ZwOw_

Chapter 4

Keith may have been locked into his room, but he refused to just stay in bed and do nothing. Instead, he attempted to make plans to escape. He suddenly found himself wishing the others were here to draw ideas from.

If Pidge was here she'd be able to hack the system and get the door to open easily.

Hunk would probably find a way to break into the wires of the lock system and force it to open.

Lance's plan would likely be some crazy duo plan of him causing a distraction while Keith knocked Thace out and they make a run for it, and frankly Coran would have a similar plan. Shiro would just kick the door down and Allura would try to reason with Thace a lot more calmly than Keith was capable of.

But they weren't here, as much as he wish they were, Keith was on his own.

Plan A was to wait until Thace entered and knock him over as he made a run for it. It would have worked, except Thace stand firm as a boulder like he had predicted Keith's plan and watch Keith fall back onto the floor.

Keith felt like he had run into a brick wall. What were Galra soldiers made of?!

Plan B happened in the evening when Keith pretend to be asleep and when Thace came to check on him, Keith jumped and tried to run. Would have worked, except Thace tripped and pinned him to the floor until he agreed to not run again.

Plan C would have been to find an air vent and crawl his way through that to freedom, he had read some books with that plan. Unfortunately the only one he found was barely big enough for one of the Space Mice to crawl through.

Keith was trapped, and there was nothing he could do about it, at least for the time being. This frustrated Keith and for the next couple of days refusing to even look when Thace entered to give him food. He didn't say anything, and didn't even look at him when Thace examined his arm.

Keith instead tried to put his anger into regaining his strength. He practice his fighting stances and perform sit ups. It hurt his ribs to do so, and he was always panting by the end of it, but it was a small price to pay. At least he was doing something.

His body didn't agree though. On the third day, after attempting a few kicks, Keith felt dizzy and was forced to sit down. He sat on the bed and wiped the sweat on his forehead and he waited for his dizziness to fade.

He barely heard Thace approach him.

"I'm fine," Keith said automatically, knowing Thace was going to question his whizzed breathing.

Thace looked less than convinced and reached out to touch Keith's forehead. The boy jerked, but Thace held him in place and as his hand touched Keith's hot skin.

"You're burning up," he stated. "Your training sessions is putting too much strain on your body and it's brought your fever back."

"I'm fine," Keith repeated as he yanked free.

That was a lie. His body felt hot all over and it was covered in sweat.

Thace sighed as he rose and reached into his pocket. "It's good to work out and regain your strength, but rushing it is foolish and will only harm you. Any experience warrior will tell you that."

Keith rolled his eyes. _So, he's giving me life advice now? Fantastic._

"We need to get that fever down, so you'll have to take this," Thace said as he brought out a small bottle from his pocket.

Keith froze and straightened his posture in alarm. He wasn't liking where this was going.

"What's that?" he said as he pointed.

"Medicine," Thace explained as he kneeled. "It will put you in a deep sleep and bring your fever down."

Keith glared and moved further back on the bed to be away as possible from Thace. "I'll pass. Food is one thing, but I'm not taking some strange drug I know nothing about."

"You already have taken it," Thace replied with a frown. "How do you think I broke your first fever in the first place?"

Keith blinked stunned and shifted uncomfortably. He did remember drinking something during those fever dreams, but that didn't mean that liquid in the bottle now was medicine.

He narrowed his eyes and glared. "I'm not taking it," he said in an icy tone.

Thace said nothing as he unscrewed the cap. "It wasn't a request, you need to take this."

"No," Keith said, readying to fight him. "There's no way I'm drinking that stuff.

Thace snarled as he drew closer. "Yes, you are."

He grabbed Keith by the arm and pinned him to the bed. Keith fought, trying to shake him off and punch him, but Thace dodged. He popped the tip of the bottle into Keith's mouth and felt the liquid poured in.

The bottle was removed and Keith attempted to spit it out, except his mouth was clamped shut by Thace's hand and found his nose was pinched at the same time.

"If you want to breathe, then swallow it," Thace ordered.

Keith tried to hold out, but his lungs demanded air. Reflex took over and Keith swallowed the medicine. Thace released and Keith sprung to his feet coughing and gagging.

He snarled at Thace, and tried to overlook how hot his whole body was feeling.

"You," Keith started, "I'm going to-"

"Keith, relax," Thace said calmly. "There's no point in fighting it."

"I'm fighting every tooth and…nail," Keith said, but found it hard to do so. He was feeling so drowsy and heavy. His legs gave out and he would have dropped to the floor if Thace hadn't caught him.

"I'm…not…sleeping," Keith said, but was forced to give into a yawn.

"The medicine says otherwise," Thace retorted as he scooped Keith up and placed him on the bed.

Keith tried to keep his eyes opened, but it proved fruitless as they demanded to shut and he felt Thace draped a blanket over him.

"Sleep well, Keith," he heard Thace say as he gave into the darkness and went to sleep.

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Keith didn't know how long he slept, but he woke up to hear rain rattling on the roof. He rubbed his eyes as he forced himself to sit up. He wasn't feeling as hot anymore, but his body felt stiff from laying in bed for so long.

His eyes landed on the door. There was no point in checking, Thace was clearly no fool and presumably locked it after Keith fell asleep.

"I'm so ready to be out of here," Keith grumbled as he pulled his knees to his chest and realized his boots had been removed while he'd been sleeping.

 _Thace must have taken them off, Keith thought. Not that it matters since I can't go anywhere._

He rested his forehead as he shut his eyes and listened to the rain. It suddenly struck him that this was the first planet to have rain.

 _I'll have to tell Lance,_ Keith thought. _He keeps saying he misses the rain back home._

That was one thing Keith did have in common with him. His missed the rain too. No matter where he was, whenever it rained, Keith could just sit and listen to the falling raindrops for hours. It was soothing, and helped him relax. He had picked up the habit from his mother.

Some of his best memories was snuggling with her under a blanket as they watched the rain hit against the window. They did it every time, even when she got sick and was stuck in the hospital.

They last time they did it, there was something she was trying to tell Keith, but he couldn't remember what it was. He hadn't thought about that memory in years. Something about-

BOOM!

Keith jumped. The thunder shattered his chain of memories as he felt his rapid heartbeat return to normal.

"There's a jolt scare I didn't need," Keith muttered as he ran a hand through his hair. "Hope, Red is okay out there."

Keith assumed his lion was fine in the storm. Although, if Red did become more damaged due to one rainstorm after all the battles they've been in, he was going to sincerely doubt the power of Altean technology.

Another thunder was heard, and while Keith was more prepared this round, he was not expecting the lights to suddenly flicker. Then, all at once, a small boom was heard, the lights in the bunker went out and Keith found himself sitting in the middle of the dark.

He sat stunned, unsure what to think, but it then dawned on him.

 _The storm must have taken out the generator or whatever powers this place. He froze. Wait all the power? Wouldn't that mean the door-_

Keith bolted and tripped over his own feet as he scrambled towards the door. His fingers clumsily found the edge of the door and with a grunt he shoved it aside.

"YES!" Keith cried, but then covered his mouth with his own hand. If Thace knew the power was out, he would be coming straight to Keith to see if he was asleep or not.

A plan formed in his head and he didn't have a lot of time to do it. Thace would be here any moment. Keith hastily pulled the door back shut and then raced back to his bed. He dove under the blanket, and shut his eyes just as footsteps could be heard from the hallway.

Keith kept still as he heard the door slide open. He felt the light of a flashlight shine on his face and then heard the sigh of relief.

"Good, he's still asleep," Thace stated. "I'm going to have to work fast to get power back online."

Keith didn't dare crack an eye until he heard Thace step back into the hallway. He then forced himself to wait another minute before he tossed the blanket off like an old band aid.

"Time to go," he declared as he fumbled in the dark to dig for his boots and found them under the bed.

He shoved his boots on blindly and then carefully made his way through the darkness until he found the door and shoved it aside.

He debated on what he should now.

 _Still haven't found my bayard, but I could spend hours looking for it and not find it._ Keith gripped his chin. _I don't know how long it will take for Thace to get the power back on. I won't have a better chance of escaping then right now._

He would just have to explain Allura that he lost it and hoped she understood why. Getting Red flying again and finding the others was the most important thing.

Silently, Keith kept a hand on the wall as he crept his way through the hallways. He wasn't quite certain where he was suppose to go, but stayed alert. The one thing that would ruin his plans was if he literally bumped into Thace in the dark. That would be a pain to deal with.

He paused. The pounding of the rain was slightly louder here. Keith strained his ears and tried to trace the sound until his nose bumped into a door. The rain was especially roaring here, and Keith held his breath as he forced the door to open.

A scenery of pouring rain, grey clouds and lush green foliage greeted him and he stood back in awe.

"That was lucky on the first try," Keith said as he held out a hand to the rain. He gave a smirk to himself, but it was short lived as the lights in the base suddenly came back on.

"Looks like time's up," Keith said. "Got to get moving!" Keith looked at the raining grey clouds. Only problem now was which direction should he run in. Thace never told him how far the base was from Red, and with Keith's luck he could run in the wrong for hours without knowing.

Keith calmed himself, and shut his eyes to concentrate on Red. He mentally called out to her.

 _Come on, Girl,_ Keith thought. _Tell me where you are._

Red appeared in his mind as she answered and Keith grinned. He knew exactly where to head. North!

Keith sprinted out into the cold rain and tried to not yelp as the freezing water ran down his back.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It felt like days as Keith made his way through the forest, but he was certain barely an hour had passed by since he escaped the base.

It was hard to see in the rain, and his hair became so soaked it dangled over his eyes. Keith cursed each time he nearly tripped over a root and almost got swatted by a tree branch, but he kept going.

He did wish he had his jacket with him, although it wouldn't make any real difference. His clothes were clinging to him, and his body was shivering thanks to the icy rain.

 _Can warm up once I get to Red,_ Keith thought as he avoided getting his eye poked out by a branch. _Wonder if Thace has realized I'm gone yet?_

Keith was certain Thace was going to chase after him once he saw his empty bed. Thus, why his main advantage was to stay ahead of him. Although, there was the issue of Red still needing repairs once Keith reached her. Thace would know that was exactly where Keith had gone.

"I'll have to just hope Red is good enough to fly to get off this place and make repairs wherever we land," Keith muttered as he rubbed his hands for warmth. "Now, I just need to hope nothing else happens-"

The breaking of a tree branch cut him off. Keith froze as he spun around and saw movement within the bushes.

Keith held up his fists, ready to fight. _Did Thace catch up to me already?! Well, I'm not going back without a fight._

Keith took a deep breath and approached the bush. "I don't know what you're deal is, but I'm not going to be bossed around by you anymore!"

There was more movement out of the corner of his eye. He was behind him now?

Keith snarled. "Enough hiding!" Keith said as he found a rock and threw it in the bush. "I know you're there! Come out and face me!"

A deep growl erupted from the bushes. Keith paled and went still as a snarling bear like creature with four pairs of eyes and green fur emerged from the bush. Keith took a step back as the creature stepped out revealing it's back was covered with spikes. It's paws looked big enough to knock over any tree it wanted.

"Easy, Big Guy," Keith said in a soothing tone, hoping to calm it down. "No need to get angry. How about I just turn around and leave you be-"

The spiked bear snarled directly in Keith's face.

"I'll take that as a 'No'," Keith replied and ducked as the bear tried to whack him with it's paw. His banged his ribs against the trunk of a tree and caused Keith to hiss in pain. The bear spun around to race at him at top speed. There was no time to run.

Keith searched for a weapon and ended up grabbing a fallen tree branch. He held it out like like a sword as the bear charged and snapped it's jaws. Keith raised the branch, ready to try to hit the bear. The bear was inches away, ready to tear Keith into pieces.

Suddenly, strong arms wrapped around Keith and he was pulled out of the bear's way. Keith landed into the wet soil as the arms loosen their grip on him. Keith blinked dazed and groaned as he felt the extra weight climb off him.

"And THIS is why I locked you in your room," a familiar voice spat.

Keith groaned, both at the pain and for knowing who the voice belonged too. He turned around and grimaced to see Thace's scowling face.

"Really don't want an 'I told you so' right now," Keith said as he stood up.

Thace wasn't able to respond before the creature thumped the ground with it's paws and let out a roar.

Thace cursed as he brought out a dagger. Keith noticed it was the same dagger he had stumbled upon the other day.

"Out of all the creatures on this planet, did you have to pick a fight with a drazol?!" Thace snapped.

"It wasn't exactly planned," Keith replied and grabbed the branch as the drazol paced around them. "Is it poisonous?"

"No, but it's legendary for it's violent tempers," Thace said as he tried to push Keith behind him. "I've seen one of these creatures take out a whole squad. WATCH OUT!"

Thace shoved Keith to the right as the drazol attacked. He blocked the drazol's jaws with his dagger, but it's claws swiped at his arm. Thace cried out, but regained his composure and punched at the drazol's throat.

The creature staggered backwards, but hastily shook it's head and locked eyes with Thace.

"I'll distract it," Thace as he held out his dagger in a fighting stance. "Run and get out of here!"

Keith couldn't believe what he was hearing. Thace couldn't take this thing on alone, and why was he willing to sacrifice himself?! He leaned against the tree to steady himself. "But you're hurt-"

"I'M FINE, NOW DO AS I SAY AND GO!" Thace ordered as he narrowly dodged the creature's snapping jaws. The drazol tried to swipe at his head, but Thace stabbed it with his dagger.

Keith turned on his heels to run, except his legs wouldn't move. He tried to block out Thace's yells as the Drazol attacked again, but he heard every sound.

This was his chance to run. This was his chance to leave. Logically he should run now, but he couldn't. His heart wouldn't let him. Keith couldn't abandoned this Galra solider.

"Ah, Quiznak," Keith cursed as he turned back around.

The drazol currently had Thace pinned under it's massive paws and looked ready to bite his head off.

"Hey, Ugly!" Keith yelled as picked up a rock. "Remember me!" He threw the rock and it hit directly in the drazol's eye.

The creature roared and then snarled at Keith.

"What are you doing?!" Thace exclaimed.

"Saving your life," Keith retorted as he prepared to run. "Come on, Fuzzbrain! Come get me!"

The drazol bared it's teeth and charged straight towards him. Keith whirled around and ran for his life through the forest. He duck under branches and hoped they would slow down the drazol. However, upon hearing branches rapidly snap behind him, Keith knew there was no chance of that.

 _What do I do now?! Climb a tree? No, he'll knock me over! Can't fight it. Wish there was a way to cage this thing-WHOA!_

The edge of a cliff appeared, forcing Keith to halt. He staggered, almost losing his balance on the slippery grass, but grabbing onto a nearby tree to steady himself. Keith peeked over the edge.

The bottom was miles below with a raging river ready to drown anything that came in it.

"No way I survive that jump," Keith muttered. "But maybe-"

A roar came along with the crashing of a fallen tree. Keith glanced behind him and saw the drazol coming with no signs of it slowing down. He took a deep breath.

"Only one shot at this," he said and stood his ground. The drazol grew closer. Keith's heart beat increased and his fingers twitched as he got a better look at it's razor sharp claws.

Then, the drazol was upon him and pounced.

Keith dodged and dropped to the ground as the drazol missed and jumped both over him and the edge. Victory was in his grasp, except the drazol caught his pants with a claw and tried to pull him over.

The cloth tore and the drazol dropped like a stone with nothing in it's grasp. Keith flung himself and grabbed the edge. His body slammed against the cliff with a hard thump causing Keith to cry out. Desperately, Keith tried to pull himself up, but there was nothing for his feet to climb onto and kept slipping off when they tried.

"Come on, come on," Keith said as he dug his fingers into the mud. "Got to get up!"

The rain was still coming and he could feel his grip loosening in the mud. Panic started to sweep over. _Plan, plan, I need a plan!_

But no plan came and to his horror he lost his grip. He braced himself to plummet and shut his eyes.

This was it. He was dead. He was alone. He would never see his team again. A firm hand grabbed his wrist and suddenly found himself dangling. Keith blinked, stunned he wasn't falling anymore and looked up.

"Thace?!" he exclaimed.

Thace grunted as he kept his hold on Keith's wrist. "Give me your other hand," he said. "I'll pull you up."

Keith nodded in disbelief as he reached out and Thace seized his other hand. As promised, he pulled Keith back up and didn't stop until Keith felt solid ground underneath his feet again.

Keith collapsed, panting against the ground as the wet bangs hung over his eyes.

Thace gripped his injured arm as he kneeled. "Are you injured?"

"No...more...than before," Keith answered as he sat up. "Um...thanks."

Thace seemed doubtful as he checked Keith over and sighed. "You are a very brave paladin, but also very foolish," he said as he shook his head. "But I suppose that is the price of youth."

"Really not in the mood for a lesson," Keith grumbled as he leaned his head back. "And I'm guessing you're going to drag me back to the base?"

Thace frowned like he was weighing his options and sighed. "No, I'm not."

Keith looked up surprised. "What?"

"I'm injured and I don't wish to worsen either of our wounds by fighting," Thace explained. "I rather you return to the base to heal, but if you wish to return to your lion I won't stop you."

Keith's eyes hardened, part of him wondering if it was a trick, but then the blood dripping on Thace's arm caught his eye. The guy just saved his life, and honestly it was the second time...no third time now. So far, Thace had done nothing except wanting to help Keith. It seemed pointless to keep running from him at this point.

Keith sighed as he climbed to his feet. "This is probably against my better judgement, but I'll go back with you."

Thace's face was unreadable, but his shoulders relaxed slightly. "I know a shortcut." He turned from him and began to lead back towards the base. "Follow me."

Keith said nothing as he took one more glance over the cliff before chasing after Thace through the forest.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Keith had never been so grateful to be dry again. His clothes had been completely soaked by the time they returned. Luckily, Thace had found a spare set of pants and an under shirt from some old uniforms he could wear.

It felt a bit wrong to put on pieces of a Galra uniform, but he reminded himself it was only until his own clothes dry. Keith sighed as he finished drying his hair and sat on the chair in what he assumed to be some kind of mess hall.

He heard Thace approached and quietly watched him place a bowl of the same soup from the other day. Keith lowered the towel as he glanced to the bowl and the bandages on the Galran's arm.

"When did you have the time to make that?" he asked.

"It was already made before the power went out," Thace said.

"Oh," Keith said as he leaned on the table. "Um..how's your arm?"

"It will heal, and I've suffered worse," Thace replied as he fingered the bandage and his eyes narrowed. "On that note, I have something for you." He reached into his pouch and placed Keith's bayard on the table.

Without a second thought, Keith grabbed it and checked it over. Far as he could tell it was unbroken. "You're giving it back to me now?"

"I see no point on hiding it," Thace explained. "If you wish to run back into the woods, you might as well have the proper protection." He frowned. "You are a strong warrior, Keith, and it's good to keep your instincts sharp, but you need to think of the consequences of your actions more."

Keith sighed as he rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, I know-"

"Zarkon would have killed you if the Black Paladin hadn't rescued you."

Keith froze and he glanced up to Thace in shock. "What...how do you know that?"

"Because I was there," Thace stated as he sat in the chair and folded his arms. "I saw the whole battle."

"You were there?" Keith said as he shook his head and sighed deeply to calm himself. No more rushing to conclusions. I need some actual answers here about this guy.

His gaze hardened and he looked up to Thace. "Look, I'll admit running off was not a smart idea, but you haven't exactly given me a good reason why I should trust you when I don't know anything about you."

He leaned forward and counted on his fingers. "You clearly don't want me hurt or to give me to Zarkon or you wouldn't have insisted I run when that darzol attacked, but now you tell me you were at Zarkon's main headquarters?" Keith took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. "Thace, who are you?"

Thace was silent and slowly he leaned back in his chair. "You...have a valid point."

He raised his head up. "I don't mean to be so secretive, but I need to be careful because I can put many lives at risk." He folded his hands and stared into his lap. "Although, we did assume you paladins would discover us eventually."

"Us?" Keith asked confused.

Thace took a deep breathe. "I technically did work for Zarkon as a First Officer, but that was merely a cover so I could easily gain access to information and report it to my comrades."

"So, you were a double agent?" Keith asked. "For who?"

Thace shut his eyes, but opened them as he raised his head. "The Galra resistance."

Keith's eyes widened. "Resistance? As in freedom fighters?"

"Correct," Thace said with a nod. "Our goal is to one day rid the universe of Zarkon's tyranny and free planets from the Galra empire's control."

Keith rubbed his neck. "But I thought there weren't any freedom fighters, except for a few small groups."

Rolo had certainly made that clear when they asked him about it.

"We're not huge," Thace explained. "Truth is there are only a few cells of us scattered around, and we try to keep our presence as secret as possible."

Keith frowned. "I don't understand."

Thace rose from his chair as he started to pace. "We use to be much larger and more out in the open, but then Zarkon attempted to wipe us all out before you were born." He paused to look at Keith. "He currently believes he succeeded and that we're all dead."

"But you're not," Keith concluded.

"Correct, and that is our main advantage now," Thace said as he leaned back in the chair. "The few of us that survived regrouped and decided we would continue our work from the shadows."

"And do exactly what?" Keith said as he straightened his posture and was now more curious. The others would want to know this. They could have potential allies here.

"It varies," Thace said as he folded his arms. "Disrupt slave transports, warn planets of potential invasions, destroy weapon factories, try to assist prisoners to escape," he paused and narrowed his eyes, "including the champion."

"What?!" Keith said as he jumped to his feet. "Wait, wait, you mean you guys helped Shiro escaped?"

"Not directly," Thace replied, 'but one of my associates did make certain there 'just happened' to be a key in his cell and there was an escape pod waiting for him."

"So, Shiro didn't actually see you guys there?" Keith asked. Although since he has trouble remembering it probably doesn't matter.

"No, but that's often how we work," Thace said. "However, the day I saw you fight Zarkon was also the day I exposed myself and was forced to flee before they captured me."

"Exposed yourself?" Keith asked as he tilted his head. "Why?"

It had to have been for a big reason if he had worked undercover for so long.

Thace took a deep tired sigh. "Well, SOMEONE had to lower the barrier to ensure Zarkon didn't get Voltron."

Keith blinked in confusion. Barrier? What was he..wait.

Eyes widened as he recalled the group's confusion on why the barrier that had trapped them had conveniently disappeared just as they were scrambling to escape.

Keith's jaw dropped and he pointed at Thace. "THAT WAS YOU?!"

"Yes," Thace replied in a firm tone. "I had no time to plan or cover my tracks and I knew it would only be a manner of ticks before they realized it was me. So, I fled."

"And you chased after me?" Keith said as he scratched his head.

"No, actually," Thace continued as he raised a hand. "Truth be told, I came to this planet to hide. I couldn't risk leading them back to the resistance, and this planet has been used in the past by fellow rebels to hide from the Galra Empire since signals can't be traced here and vice versa."

"So, you were going to hide until you thought it was safe to return to the resistance?" Keith asked.

Thace nodded.

"And me being here-"

"Was a total coincidence," Thace explained and gave a small smirk. "Fate, has a weird sense of humor."

Keith ran a hand through his hair as his brain absorbed all of this information. "...Why didn't you just tell me all of this at the start?"

"I didn't want to expose my comrades anymore than I had to," Thace explained and looked to Keith. "Besides, would you have believed me even if I did?"

Keith opened and then shut his mouth. "No...probably not." He then rose. "With that said, you guys should be working Voltron. Together we could-"

"No, at least not yet," Thace said firmly. "We are not your enemy, but if we joined forces with you now we would risk exposing our whole operation. We probably will in time, but for the time being, it's better for us to help from the shadows."

Keith gave a slight pout. He didn't quite believe that. "No offense, but that just sounds like an excuse to me."

"Perhaps," Thace replied slowly, "but there is also the fact I sincerely doubt the Altean princess would be comfortable working aside the people that destroyed her homeworld or your leader for that matter."

Keith didn't admit it, but he had a point. He couldn't see Shiro jumping for joy at the thought of working alongside Galra or Pidge for that matter. Maybe Hunk and Lance would be more open, but Keith wasn't certain how Allura and Coran would react. He couldn't see them turning down this opportunity in the long run, but still, he couldn't blame them for being reluctant either.

Thace took a deep breath as he sat down. "That's enough questions for now." He gestured to the bowl. "I suggest you eat that before it gets cold."

Keith gave a pout, but decided he would drop the topic for now. He silently picked up the bowl and sipped at the soup broth. A nostalgic taste swept over his tastebuds and he froze to stare into the soup.

T..This tastes a lot like the soup Mom use to make when I was a kid, Keith thought.

"Something the matter?" Thace asked, concerned.

Keith glanced up and rubbed his neck. "Um...no, it's nothing," he mumbled. "It's...um...good."

Thace looked like he was tempted to pry further, but in the end kept quiet to eat his own bowl. Keith continued to sip at his soup, part of him wondering if he should ask exactly where Thace learned this recipe, and the other part arguing that Keith didn't want the answer.

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The next few days passed by quietly. Keith would rest when needed, but under Thace's watchful eye would train with his sword to keep his skills sharp. Thace had also offered assistance to help repair Red.

"I'm no mechanic, but I have some basic knowledge at least," he said.

Truthfully, his knowledge wasn't that much better than from Keith's, but they certainly got farther then Keith would have on his own. He was still a bit weary of letting Thace near Red, so he made certain to never leave him and Red alone together.

Still, he sensed Red seemed to be fine with Thace's presence and Keith knew Red wasn't the type to keep quiet if she sensed something was wrong.

Instead, Keith found himself wondering on various things that while seem trivial, were slowly bugging him the more he thought about it. How did Thace know things about Earth? Why did the guy give him thoughtful looks at times?

But what bothered Keith most was Thace's dagger. Why did it look so similar to the one that belonged to his father? It could have been a coincidence, but his gut told him it wasn't. Could there be some weird connection he was missing?

Keith found himself stealing glances at the thing whenever Thace took out the dagger to cut branches that were in their way. He should bring it up, but honestly, Keith wasn't sure if he wanted the answer.

He found himself pondering this problem as he sat on the bed. He lay his hand over his eyes and sighed.

Why am I worrying over some stupid dagger when I should be more concerned if Shiro and the others are all right!

It had been over a month now and truth be told, Keith felt guilty that he hadn't be able to get off the planet to search for them yet. Were they alright? Were they captured? Would he ever see them again?

Keith shut his eyes. He wished they were here. Without realizing it, they had become his strange new family and it killed him to think he might have lost them again just like his mother.

Maybe I just wasn't meant to have a family, Keith thought gloomily. Maybe I'm just meant to be alone for the rest of my life.

ROAR!

Keith jumped, hearing his lion roar loudly in his head. "Red?" he asked softly.

Another roar came, but more excited and encouraging like she was beckoning him to come see her.

Keith frowned, but got up and reached for his bayard. Doesn't sound like she's in trouble, he thought. But better go check on her.

He reached the hallway and almost crashed into Thace in the process.

"Keith?" Thace asked, looking concerned as he steadied the boy.

"Sorry," Keith replied hastily, "but Red just called me and wants to see me now. I need to check on her."

Thace frowned and nodded like he'd been expecting it. "Go on then," he said as he stepped out of the way. "But take care."

Keith tilted his head. "You're not coming?" he asked, slightly surprised.

"I need to make some repairs on my own ship," Thace replied, "and you've regained enough of your strength that you should be fine on your own."

"Oh, alright," Keith said as he started to weave around him. "I'll see you later then."

Keith went to walk, but stopped when Thace patted his shoulder.

"Stay safe," he said, "and I...hope to see you again soon."

Keith raised an eyebrow at the odd wording, but gave a shrug. "Okay, but I shouldn't be long. I'll be back in a bit."

Thace gave a nod and stayed where he was as Keith raced down the hallway. Keith turned to take one more glance before he found the door to leave the base and tried to ignore the feeling that it felt like he was saying goodbye for a lot longer than a few hours.

Keith dashed into the forest, and found the markings in the tree trunks Thace had made with his dagger to mark their trail. Just as he passed by the fifth tree, he heard movement and voices.

Keith went still as he swiftly morphed his bayard into his sword. He shut his eyes to concentrate.

Was it an animal? No, too noisy. Had to be a person. The noise was getting louder and Keith ducked behind the tree to hide.

Keith remain as still as a statue as the footsteps grew closer. Could it be Galra? If it was, it sounded like only one person, which meant Keith could take them down easily.

Crouching like a wild tiger, Keith waited until he was certain the intruder was just reaching the tree. Then, with his sword in hand, Keith pounced.

He let out a battle cry as he leaped and pinned the intruder. A surprise yell was given as the person fell flat on their back. Keith was ready to point the sword at their neck, except he forgot his plans as he saw the person's face.

"HUNK?!" Keith cried.

His friend shut his eyes as his covered his face with his hands. "Don't kill me! I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding-"

"Hunk, it's me!" Keith repeated as he dropped his sword.

Hunk removed his hands, blinked at him and within moments awoke from his stupor.

"KEITH?!" he cried joyfully and engulfed Keith into a tight bearhug as he rose. "Oh, man! We were so worried! When we found Red, we thought you had gotten captured or worse! But then I found those markings on those trees and thought, 'Hey, maybe Keith made those with his sword' and-"

"Hunk...need...air," Keith breathed.

"Oh...sorry, dude," Hunk said as he loosen his grip and instead replaced it by wrapping his arm around his shoulder. "I'm just so relieved we found you."

Keith gave a soft smile. "Me too, Big Guy."

"HUNK! Where are you?!" Lance's cry echoed. "I know I heard you scream"

"Over here!" Hunk yelled with a hand over his mouth. "I FOUND KEITH!"

Pidge was the first to emerge from the bushes and her eyes widened. "Keith! We finally found you!"

Delighted, she raced over and joined in on the hugging. Before Keith had a moment to take it in, Lance appeared, saw Keith and shrugged.

"Ha! See, I told you guys were worried over nothing," Lance said as he approached with a smirk. "There's no way Keith would have died because of one crash.

"You told us?" Pidge said with smirk. "Yeah, right, you were just as worried."

"I was so not!" Lance replied firmly as he crossed his arms.

"Oh, drop the cool act and get in on this hug," Hunk said as he dragged Lance in and before Keith knew it he was in the centre of the biggest group hug he ever experienced.

Keith looked awkwardly at Lance. "You...really weren't worried about me?"

Lance opened and shut his mouth as he adjusted his helmet. "Well…," he said with a slight blush on his cheeks. "Maybe I was a little worried."

"Guys!" Shiro's voice called out. "Where are you-"

"Over here!" Hunk called. "We found Keith!"

Within seconds, Shiro appeared and relief washed over his face as he sat them. Without a word being said, the group broke up the hug and to let in Shiro.

"Keith, are you hurt?" he asked as he placed his hands on Keith's shoulders. "We saw Red had some damage to her-"

"No, I'm okay," Keith replied and smiled as he looked all of them over. They were all okay, safe and alive. "And it's really good to see you all."

Shiro let out a deep breath and gave Keith a hug. "Good to see you to, Buddy."

Lance looked unconvinced and poked at Keith's arm. "Um...if you're really not hurt then why do you have those bandages on your arm?"

Keith blinked as Shiro released him and raised his bandage arm. "Oh, I nearly forgot about this."

"How do you nearly forget about an injury?" Pidge asked.

"It's Keith," Shiro replied with a laugh. "Trust me on this, it's possible."

Keith smiled. It felt so good to be with the others..no, his family again. He didn't have to go searching for them, they went looking for him.

He then frowned. "Wait, how did you guys manage to find me? This planet isn't able to receive or send signals."

"We know," Shiro explained, "and it's a long story." He wrapped an arm around Keith's shoulders. "One I think is better explained once we're back in the castle and we have Coran check over you to make certain."

Keith almost let Shiro steered him, but he stopped himself. "Wait, I should tell Thace what's going on first."

The group exchanged baffled expressions.

"Thace?" Pidge asked. "Is there someone else on this planet? Coran and Allura seemed certain there was nothing but wild life here."

Keith chewed his bottom lip. "Well...um…" He rubbed his neck. "He's kind of...a Galra that's been helping me the last month."

SIlence fell upon the group, until finally Lance coughed. "Okay, my ears must be clogged or something because I thought you just said a GALRA has been helping you?"

"If your ears are clogged then mine are too," Hunk replied earnestly.

"No, no you heard, right," Keith confirmed.

"WHAT?!" Pidge, Lance and Hunk exclaimed in unison.

"Guys, calm down," Shiro replied, but kept a concerned frown. "Keith, where is this Thace?"

"At this old base I'll show you," Keith replied as he lead the way. "I think it's better if I just have you meet him."

"Or we could not meet him and just get to our lions to fly back to the castle."

"Lance," Shiro said in his no nonsense tone.

"What?! I'm just saying it's an option!"

Keith gave a laugh. He never thought he be so happy to hear all of this again.

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Shiro sighed as he came back out into the hall. "Okay, I finished checking the west half, but I didn't see any sign of anybody. How about you guys?"

"I looked around the base, and didn't find anything," Lance said as he leaned against the wall. "I'm starting to wonder if this 'Thace' was just Keith's imaginary friend."

Keith growled. "He wasn't imaginary." He shook his head and sighed. "I don't get it, he was here when I left."

"I finished checking the mess hall," Hunk said as he entered. "And while I didn't find this Thace guy, I did find this dried meat that actually looks really tasty."

"Thace made those," Keith said and ran a hand through his hair. "Look..I'm not crazy."

"No one said you were, Buddy," Shiro said as he placed a hand on Keith's shoulder. "But maybe he left when you went to check on Red."

"Yeah, but why?" Keith replied.

"Because he heard us coming and was afraid of us badass Paladins," Lance declared as he flexed his muscles.

Keith frowned and folded his arms. "Actually, you might be right." Did Thace realize the rest of the Paladins were coming and decided he better leave?

"Keith."

All heads turned around as Pidge approached them and held out a piece of folded paper. "I found this on a bed and it has your name on it."

Keith took the paper and unfolded it to read it aloud.

"Keith, I'm sorry for vanishing, but when I saw the lions flying in the sky I thought it was best I leave since I knew you would be in good hands. I'm going to return to my comrades and hopefully we will met again soon, Thace."

Keith rubbed his eyes. That explained the weird goodbye Thace gave right before he left. He knew the others were here before Keith did himself.

"Um..is anyone else wondering how this guy knew how to write in English?" Hunk asked as he glanced over Keith's shoulder.

"Hunk, that's the least of it," Keith grumbled.

"Alright, I'm really confused here," Lance stated as he threw up his arms in the air. "Who exactly is Thace?"

Keith took a deep breath. "Yeah..I also got a long story for you guys." His gaze locked onto Shiro's. "And you're not going to believe what I have to tell you."

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"Hmm….well, I will say this," Coran said as he finished checking Keith's arm, "You certainly healed well without a healing pod." He finished bandaging his arm. "At this point, I think the healing pod would be overdoing it. Best to just let your body heal naturally."

"That's a relief," Keith said. He never really did like going into the healing pods. It always creeped him out how lifeless people looked while they were inside it.

"I'm so relieved that you're alright, Keith," Allura said as she patted his shoulder and looked to the others. "I'm relieved that you all are. It took us awhile, but we finally managed to find you all and be reunited."

"Yeah, and I for one am so not up for being split up like that again," Hunk said as he raised his hand.

"Yes, great, fantastic, we all agree on that," Lance said as he paced the floor. "Can we PLEASE get back to the topic that there's apparently a Galra resistance?!"

Keith shrugged as he leaned back against his chair. "I've told you guys all that I know." He counted off his fingers. "That's Thace was the one to lower the barrier for us to escape and that there are a few rebel cells with Galra resistance fighters."

"It is rather amazing," Coran said as he grasped his chin. "To think a bit of the resistance was working right under Zarkon's nose the whole time. I imagine he was quite angry when he found out."

"Angry is probably an understatement," Allura said and frowned as she looked to Keith. "But Thace didn't tell you how to locate them?"

Keith shook his head. "Frankly, it was a miracle I got him to tell me that much. According to Thace, they work against Zarkon from the shadows unseen." Keith looked over to Shiro. "He even said they gave a hand for you to escape."

"What?" Shiro replied softly. He had been mostly quiet as Keith repeated what Thace had told him.

Shiro frowned as he shut his eyes in thought. "Wait...now that you mention it, I..there was a day I was returned to my cell and I found a key to open it laying on the floor." He ran a hand through his hair. "I just assumed a guard was careless and dropped it."

His frowned deepened. "And...I did find ship already for take off when I broke out of my cell." He glanced back up, his face looking a bit shaken. "I just figured it was dumb luck, so I didn't think too much on why it was there...I was just so happy to get out of there."

Hunk gave Shiro's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Dude, honestly, I don't think anyone of use would have questioned it if we were in your shoes."

"Question is though," Allura said in a serious tone. "What do we do now?"

"Isn't it obvious?!" Lance exclaimed. "I mean, come on, a Galra resistance? This is classic Star Wars here. We can totally team up with them and have some actual backup!"

"Star..what?" Allura asked.

"Classic movie, lots of ships, lazer swords and join the dark side deals," Hunk explained. "We'll give you the details later."

Keith coughed into his hand. "Well..thing is, they don't want to team up with us, at least not yet." He folded his hands into his pockets. "Thace made it clear they're trying to remain unknown so Zarkon doesn't find out about them. They're afraid if they partner up with us, that will expose them."

Coran twirled his mustache thoughtfully. "Can't say I blame them for that, especially since you said Zarkon had attempted to wipe them out before. Frankly, it's incredible Zarkon hasn't found out their current existence already."

"But these people could have vital information," Pidge replied as she rose. "We should seek them out."

"No argument on that here," Shiro said, softly, "but we don't know a lot about them and I think for now we need to respect their request and leave them be." He held up a finger as Pidge gave a disgruntled pout. "At least for now."

Lance huffed and sat with a plop on the seat. "Okay, fine, but I bet we could find them if we really wanted to."

Keith looked to Lance as he leaned forward. "Speaking of finding, where exactly were you all?"

"All over the place," Allura said. "Coran and I found the castle was in the middle of the Katerra System."

"Yes, but thankfully we were able to use the castle to locate the lions' by locking onto their quintessence," Coran explained. "It took us awhile, but we just found each of you one by one."

Hunk raised his hand. "Yeah, so we just did what Shiro said and stayed put. Thankfully, Lance and I ended up on the same planet."

"We actually landed on this beach, which was rather awesome," Lance explained and frowned, "even though it was weird that the water was purple."

"On that note," Hunk said with a grin, "I did gather up some alien seafood and I should be able to make us something similar to clam chowder and fish tacos."

"Okay," Keith said slowly. "So, who did you get after Lance and Hunk?"

Pidge suddenly scowled and slumped. "It was me and I don't want to talk about it."

Allura offered a comforting smile. "Oh, Pidge, it's nothing to be embarrassed about."

"Even though it was hilarious," Lance replied.

"Lance!"

"What it was?"

Keith raised an eyebrow and looked to the others for an explanation, and finally Coran caved.

"Well, it would appear Pidge landed on a planet that hasn't achieve space travelled yet," he explained like it was an everyday fact. "Thus, when Pidge arrived in her Green Lion they instantly believed to her to be a Goddess of some kind."

"Oh," Keith replied and looked to Pidge who was still scowling and not making eye contact. "What was so bad about that?"

Pidge sighed. "Nothing, it was kind of fun actually." Her eyebrow twitched. "Until they expected me to marry a tree."

Keith blinked. "What?"

Hunk snickered. "Yeah, apparently they believed the king of all spirits lives in this giant tree, which Lance and I have named 'Bob'." He giggled as he ignored the glared Pidge was giving. "Thus when we found Pidge she was actually getting ready to just make a run for it."

"So, sad," Lance said as he wiped away a fake tear. "I'm sure you two would have made a lovely couple."

"Can it, Lance," Pidge retorted.

"The wedding dress they made for you was quite beautiful," Allura admitted.

"I thought you were on my side here!" Pidge exclaimed.

"I am, but you would have looked so pretty," Allura said with a slight pout.

Keith fought back a smile as he looked to Shiro. "What about you?" He frowned. "I know you came out of the same wormhole." His fists tightened. "And it killed me I couldn't get to you."

"I know, me too," Shiro said with half smile. "I landed on this ice planet that wasn't too far from Ceinus, that's how we guess where you were when we couldn't pick up your signal."

Process of elimination? Yeah that makes sense. Then a thought occurred to him. "Wait, an ice planet? How did you survive that long without freezing?"

"I was lucky," Shiro said with a wistful grin. "I got taken in by this old healer woman, who also fixed my wound for me." Shiro touched his side where Keith had been told he'd been wounded. "She was a bit eccentric, but she was actually a nice lady."

"Not to mention she gave us a whole box of sweets that we swear taste just like ginger snaps!" Lance said with a grin.

"Yeah, you got to try one, Keith," Hunk said. "They're the first thing we found in space that even taste something like a cookie."

"I'm betting it doesn't have the same nutritional benefits as my cooking though," Coran muttered.

Allura sighed as she rose and clapped her hands. "Well, it's been a long day for all of us, so before we even decide our next move we should all get some rest."

"Sounds good to me," Hunk said as he rose and rotated his shoulder. "I want to see what I can whip up from that dried meat Thace left behind."

"I'm up for food," Lance said as he rose and Pidge followed. "Maybe I'll just snag another one of those cookies while you cook-"

"Lance I forbid you to fill up on sweets before you had a proper meal," Coran said as he trailed after them. "That's the start of the bad habit right there."

Allura laughed as she went after them. "I could make us some tea."

"Princess, you're not helping!"

Shiro laughed and looked ready to follow, but paused mid-step as he looked to Keith. "You coming?"

Keith glanced up and leaned back to tuck his hands into the pockets of his jacket. Man, it felt good to have it back. "Yeah..in a bit, just thinking."

Shiro frowned and walked over to take the seat next to him. "I know that look, what's on your mind?"

Keith sighed and slouched forward. "I just can't stop thinking about Thace." He turned to look at Shiro. "I really don't think he's evil or anything, but there's a lot I don't get about him."

"Like what?" Shiro asked.

Keith rubbed his neck. "He seemed to know a lot about Earth, Shiro, like stuff you would only know if you've actually been there."

Shiro grasped his chin. "Is it possible he visited there? The Blue Lion was on Earth, maybe he was sent there to find it."

"Maybe, but...there's something else," Keith said as he reached back for his dagger. It was the first thing Keith went to get as soon as he had gotten back to the castle. "I..told you this dagger belonged to my dad, right?"

"Yes," Shiro said, slowly. "What about it?"

Keith sighed, not certain what he was trying to get at. "Thace has a dagger that looks scarily similar to it." He raised his head, his bangs almost covering his eyes. "That's..strange, right?"

"It's a bit strange," Shiro said, thoughtfully. "It's probably just a coincidence though." he gave a shrug. "Or maybe somehow a Galra soldier dropped it while on Earth and your dad picked it up."

Keith looked to his dagger, chewing his bottom lip. "I guess that would make sense."

Shiro gave a smile and ruffled Keith's hair, just like he use to do when Keith was stressed when he was younger. "Let's not worry about it for now. We got the team back together, so I think we deserve a little celebration. Don't you think?"

Keith gave a genuine smile. "Yeah...I got to admit, I missed you," he turned to Shiro. "All of you, even Lance if you can believe it."

Shiro gave a small laugh and tugged Keith by his arm. "Come on, let's go join the others."

Keith nodded as he put his dagger away, but could still feel the questions regarding it to the back of his mind.

Whenever I see Thace again, Keith thought. I got some questions for him.

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Elsewhere in the universe, Thace landed his small ship near the base of a mountain on the planet Albea. So far, this planet had proven to be the best location for Leah's rebel cell and had remarkably spent the last decade here. The planet was mostly made of rocks, with only underground rivers and some wildlife they could use for resources. Others may have described the planet as a giant mound of dirt, but to Thace it was his haven.

"Home sweet home," he muttered as he collected his gear from the ship and ensured it was shielded by the rocks so it was hidden from passing ships.

He weaved his way through the rocks and spotted one of the dozen caves that lead inside the mountain. He felt relief as he stepped inside, but it swiftly vanished as the tip of a blaster came into his view.

"Y-You stay right there!" a young Galran male exclaimed as he pointed the weapon directly at him.

Thace took a deep breath and remained still as he took a good look at the boy whose hands were shaking. He didn't recognize him. The kid was probably barely older than Keith. Must been a new recruit since Thace was last here.

Not good, especially with Thace still wearing his officer's uniform.

Thace dropped his gear and raised his hands up. "Easy, Boy, I come in peace."

"I'm suppose to believe that?!" the boy scoffed. "I..I'm not going to let you pass."

"PUT THE GUN DOWN, DAIEN!"

A larger and older Galra grabbed the hilt of the blaster and shoved it to the ground. "Quiznak, didn't I tell you to wait for me?! Don't be so trigger happy!"

The boy blinked in confusion and pointed to Thace. "But he-"

"Is one of us!" the older man exclaimed as he tugged on his beard. "So, just relax, okay, Daien?"

Thace let out the air he'd been holding here. "Thanks, Ford, it's good to see you."

Ford shook his head as he rubbed his eyes with his cybernetic arm. "I'm getting too old for these shenanigans."

Thace chuckled, knowing he'd been saying that since Thace had been a young teenager. Same old Ford.

Daien looked between Thace and Ford, uncertain wait to do. "So...uh…"

Ford sighed. "Run ahead and tell Leah that Thace has arrived. She'll know what it means, Junior."

Daien gave a shaky nodded and looked to Thace. "Um..sorry for almost...shooting you." He gave a shaky wave before turning on his heels and running back into the cave.

"Junior?" Thace asked as he gave Ford a quizzed look. "Since when do you have kids?"

"I don't," Ford scoffed. "He's just a kid Maya brought back with her from the last mission at the labor camp she was gathering intel on." His face hardened. "Believe it or not, that kid let a whole group of prisoners escape."

"Really?" Thace said in a surprised tone. The kid looked the type that would get nervous for even considering it.

"Yeah, he's braver than he looks, although he makes a better mechanic than fighter. So, I've been taking him under my wing." He then paused and approached Thace. "Never mind that though, you sure took your sweet time getting here. I know you had to lay low because of the whole Voltron mess, but Leah and I were starting to believe you got killed or worse."

Thace sighed as he touched the dagger hanging of his hip. "I got..delayed."

Ford raised an eyebrow and ran a hand through his beard. "Yeah? Does it have anything to do with the LAST time you got delayed?"

Thace winced slightly and shut his eyes. "I know you're joking, but in truth it is directly related."

Ford's gaze hardened. "Right, okay, then I'm guessing we better get Leah before you tell me anymore." He turned around to lead the way for Thace. "And I'm assuming you need a hard drink."

"More than you could know, Ford," Thace said as he fingered his dagger as Keith ran through his mind. "More than you could know.

* * *

Author's Note: So, yes this is the last chapter for this story, BUT this is not the last story. I got at least a part 2 and 3 planned out for this plotline. I'm currently working on part 2 and I'm hoping I can at least start posting it before season 2 begins in January in which this whole plotline will be considered an AU.

With that said, next week I plan to post a start posting a story which is explaining what the others were doing in more detail while Keith was stranded with Thace. So, keep an eye out for that.

Thanks to everyone for reading!


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